Everyone has these walls, but people with ADHD have more of them and they tend to be larger
Leah stares at the pile of books on her dining room table. They’ve been sitting there for weeks, and small particles of dust have settled on the covers. Her pulse quickens just thinking about the unpleasant task of returning yet another round of overdue books, and she quickly turns her head and leaves the room.
What Leah is experiencing is a “Wall of Awful” for a particular task. The Wall of Awful, a concept created by Brendan Mahan, an ADHD coach, posits that the emotional impact of repeated failures around a particular task creates a barrier or wall to completing it. The more one avoids a task, the more bricks are added to the wall. It could be a failure brick, a disappointment brick, a shame brick… there are no shortage of bricks that can be added. These bricks can be a result of letting ourselves or others down, fear of being exposed, or anxiety that comes from not meeting the mark.
Everyone has these walls, but people with ADHD have more of them and they tend to be larger. If you find yourself saying, “Why can’t I send back that form?” or “Why can’t I just call the bank and fix the money issue?” it’s probably because you have built up a Wall of Awful for that specific task.
There are five ways to approach these walls. The first way is to passively stare at the wall, noticing how tall and thick it is, with no idea how to move on.
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